Marie Elizabeth Grávalos

MARIE E. GRAVALOS, then a graduate student at University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, was awarded a grant in April 2018 to aid research on ‘Social Distinction and Communities of Consumption at Jecosh, Peru (ca. 100-1000 CE),’ supervised by Dr. Patrick R. Williams. This project examined pottery to understand economic access and displays of social distinction at the prehispanic village of Jecosh (ca. 100 BC ‘ AD 1600) in highland Peru. Funds supported scientific analyses of ceramics to evaluate their raw materials and overall production. To correlate differences in the production and use of specific types of pottery, funding also supported AMS radiocarbon dating. This study compared ceramics produced prior to and during the Middle Horizon (ca. AD 700-1000), a period characterized by emergent trade relations and the expansion of the Wari empire. Preliminary findings suggest that Jecosh residents continued to produce and use finewares made in their local style, occasionally supplementing consumption in the mortuary sphere with foreign wares. Continuities in the production and use of cooking and storage vessels were also found. Major shifts in raw material procurement and pottery use did not occur until well after Wari collapse, around AD 1100. This work contributes to anthropological literature on consumption by viewing it as learned tradition connected to expressions of social distinction. This bottom-up approach to political economy examined heightened economic and cultural exchange from the perspective of a small village, broadening our conceptions of how communities engage with regional political change.